High speed festoon storage device



April 22, 1958 c. A. ELWOOD ET AL HIGH SPEED FESTOON STORAGE DEVICE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 30. 1954 CALVIN A. ELWOOD W/LL/AM Z' EVER/7'7 vb m INVENTORS BYJPMI/F .f i I T ORNEYS A ril 22, 1958 c. A. ELWOOD HAL 2,831,677

HIGH SPEED FESTOON STORAGE DEVICE Filed Sept. 30. 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 I Wl/VDER ARCH Wl/VDER GE/V.

CALVIN A ELWOOD WILL/AM Z' EVER/77' INVENTORS R/VEYS c. A. ELWOOD EI'AL 2,831,677

3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTORS CAL V//V A. EL W000 WILL/AM 7.' EVER/7'7 1 TR/VEYS April 22, 1958 HIGH SPEED FESTOON STORAGE DEVICE Filed Sept. 30. 1954 Fig. 4

United States Patent "ice HIGH SREED FESTGGN STORAGE DEVICE Calvin A. Elwood and William T. Everitt, Rochester,

N. Y., assignors to Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application September 30, 1954, Serial No. 459,497

Claims. (Cl. 271-2.2)

The present invention relates to a web storage device, and more particularly to a high speed storage device in which the web is stored in the form of depending loops or festoons.

The existing storage sections of web coating machines function as a storage for coated paper between the drying section and the winding up of these machines so as to allow the operator of the wind up sufiicient time for web sampling and roll changes. The existing hang up section consists of hard wooden sticks which are positioned on a conveyor chain or chains and carried diagonally upward at uniform spaced intervals as the paper is fed out of the drying section. These sticks engage the fed web to form loops or festoons therebetween. The sticks, with their depending web festoons, are then transferred to a horizontal traveling conveyor with wide spacing between the sticks. The latter are then transferred to a second slower moving carrier which bunches the sticks and hence the festoons closer together. As the winder reels in the paper, the weight of the festoons causes the sticks to slide to the end of a second conveyor at which point the sticks drop away from the second conveyor and are carried down to a lower conveyor which returns the sticks to the original position, thus completing the cycle.

The major problem in the operation of this type of looper lies in:

(l) The larger number of separate chains required, and the problem of timing these chains, as well as the associated maintenance problems;

(2) The fact that the loop or festoon forming and supporting sticks are not fastened or connected to the chains necessitates that the operator be provided to see that the proper supply of stick is always available regardless of how many sticks are currently in use in the storage section;

(3) The necessity of the paper pulling the sticks on the delooping dead rail has brought about many problems, particularly at high speed delooping of light weight paper where the Weight of the paper is not sufficient to keep the sticks properly aligned with the dead rail chain and resulting in kinked paper and safety hazards due to sticks dropping from the dead rail location.

The present invention overcomes these undesirable features by providing a storage section in which a single endless conveyor, of the chain type, is used to move the sticks through their entire cycle. Also, the sticks are attached or fixed to the conveyor so the latter and not the paper web serves to move the sticks, the advantages of which are apparent to those familiar with this type of conveyor. Furthermore, the speed of travel of the conveyor, and its attached sticks, is changed or varied through the different portions of the web travel for reasons to be later pointed out.

The present invention has as its principal object, the provision of a new and improved high speed festoon storage device.

Yet another object of the invention is the provision of a storage device of the class described in which a single the housing 11 may be eliminated.

Q zfidlfiii Patented Apr. 22, 1958 endless moving conveyor is used to move the web through the entire device.

Still another object of the invention is the provision of a single endless moving conveyor having the festoon forming and supporting sticks secured thereto in a definite spaced relation therealong.

Yet another object of the invention is the provision of means for varying the spacing of the sticks in the direction of web travel to adjust the spacing of the festoons.

To these and other ends, the invention resides in certain improvements and combinations of parts, all as will be hereinafter more fully described, the novel features being pointed out in the claims at the end of the specification.

In the drawings: 7

Figs. 1 and 2 collectively represent a longitudinal side elevation view of a high speed festoon storage device constructed in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a portion of the device illustrated in Fig. 2 showing the arrangement for con trolling the rate of discharge of the web from thestorage device to the winder;

Fig. 4 is an end elevation'view of the storage device of the present invention taken'substantially on line 6-6, Fig. l; I i

Fig. 5 is a plan view of one of the endless conveyor chains, showing the arrangement for connecting one of the vfestoon forming and supporting sticks thereto;

Fig. 6 is an end view of the conveyor chain and stick arrangement illustrated in Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially on line 9-9 of Figs. 1 and 2 showing the relation of the chain conveyor and its sticks and the moving dead rail; and I Fig. 8 is a vertical sectional view taken through the stationary dead rail and taken substantially on line 10-10 of Fig. 1, showing the relation thereto of the conveyor chain and the sticks attached thereto.

Similar reference numerals throughout the various views designate the same parts.

If the storage device is to handle a sensitive material, such as coated photographic paper; it is preferable to position the storage device in a suitable light-tight housing or enclosure, broadly designated by the numeral 11 which is either dark or lighted with suitable non-actinic light. However, if the material to be stored is not light sensitive,

In the present instance a housing 11 is used and the front wall 12 thereof is provided with a small inlet opening 13 through which the web 14 may be fed from a drying section, not shown, to the storage device which is arranged inside housing 11.

The storage device of the present invention may be divided broadly into the following main portions: Portion A, Fig. 1, is a loop forming portion; portion B is a loop storage portion; portion C is the loop opening portion; portion D, Figs. 1 and 2, is the conveying portion; portion E, Fig. 2, is the delooping portion; portion F is the moving dead rail return portion; portion G is the stationary dead rail return portion, and: Portion H is the winding portion. With these main portions in mind, the detailed features will now be considered.

In the present invention, instead ofproviding a plu-' provision is made for varying the advancing'speed of the endless conveyor and'sticks in different portions of the device, the advantages of which will be apparent to those in the art.

The endless conveyor of the presentinvention com? prises a pair of endless chains 26 which are,,laterally spaced, as shown in Fig. 4. These chains are connected by sticks 27 the opposite ends 28 of which are reduced in size as shown in Figs. -8, and are connected to the chains 26 so as to move as a unit therewith through portions A-G. In order to connect each end 28 to the adjacent chains 26, a pair of angle iron brackets 29 are positioned on each side of each chain and have one arm connected to the chain and the other arm connected to the end 28 by bolts 30, or other suitable fastening means, By means of thisarrangement, the sticks 27 are secured to the endless conveyor chains 26 so as to move therewith. The sticks 27 are spaced along the chains 26 at intervals to allow for the formation of paper loops or festoons 15 of the proper length, as is deemed apparent, see Fig. I. More specifically, the sticks are spaced a distance slightly less than the length of the festoon between adjacent sticks. Also, each stick has the ends 28 projecting laterally beyond chains 26 to provide supporting portions 31, as shown in Figs. 58, the purpose of which arrangement will be later described.

.In the loop forming portion A the chains 26 with their attached spaced sticks 27 are directed in an upward inclined path by means of spaced rollers or sprockets 33. The chains 26 are driven by means of an electric motor 34, which is connected to the upper sprocket 33, as shown in Fig. 1. As the specific means for connecting motor 34, to the sprocket 33, forms no part of the present invention, details thereof are not shown or described. As the chains 26 move up the inclined path between sprockets 33, the sticks 27 successively come into contact with paper web 14, which is fed through inlet 13 to form the web into loops or festoons 15, the length of the web in the 'festoon being slightly greater than the spacing of the sticks, as is deemed apparent. The speed of motor 34 is synchronized to the coater speed or the rate of discharge of the paper from the drying section, which is to the left of housing 11. This insures paper loops or festoons 15 of the proper length. The motor 34 pulls the chains 26 and the sticks 27 through the loop forming portion A and up the inclined path and elevates the chains and sticks to a high point where the sticks slide down a gravity slide 35 to a traveling or moving dead rail generally, indicated by the numeral 36.

This moving dead rail 36-comprises a pair of laterally spaced endless chains 37 each of which is trained over a pair of horizontally spaced rollers or sprockets 38. The chains 37 are spaced apart a distance greater than the moving conveyor chains 26 so that the supporting ends 31 of sticks 27 will rest on and be supported by the chains 37, as clearly shown in Fig.7. The chains 37 are driven at a. slower speed than chains 26, by any suitable means. For example, a motor 39-may besuitably connected to the right sprocket 38 of chains 37 to move the latter. As an alternate construction, the right sprocket 38 may be driven from motor 34 by means of a suitably connected shaft, not shown. Preferably, at least the upper run of each chain 37 is supported by means of a member 40, the upper surface 41 of which is formed with a channel in'which the chain 37 rides, as shown in Fig. 7. This arrangement insures that all sticks will be held in horizontal alignment on the moving dead rail 36, as shown in Fig. 1.

As the moving dead rail. chains 37 are moved at a slower speed than the conveyor chains 26 iniportion A,

the sticks 27 will be stacked 'orpositioned closer together on the moving dead rail 36, as shown in Fig. 1. The result of this closer packing of sticks 27 will produce a narrowing of each individual festoon 15, as well as a closer packing of the various-.festoonsas shownin pora sist? I tion B, Fig. 1. As mentioned above, the sticks 27 are secured-to and moved as a unit with the main conveyor chains 26. Therefore, in order to enable the sticks 27 to be packed closer together in portion B, it is necessary that each section of chains 26 between adjacent sticks folds upon itself, as shown at 43. This result is secured by reason of the fact that the moving dead rail chains 37 are laterally spaced a greater distance than the main chains 26, and the ends 31 of the sticks 27 are supported on chains 37 all of which is clearly shown in Fig. 9. With this arrangement each portion or section of each chain 26 in portion B is unsupported and free to drop down or fold to form depending loops 43 between adjacent sticks 27, as shown in portion B, Fig. 1. The folded or depending chain loops 43 between each pair of sticks 27 is positioned within the corresponding paper festoon 15 formed by the same sticks shown in Fig. 1. Thus, in portion B, the sticks 27 are moved at a slower speed by the chains 37 of the moving dead rail so that the sticks are packed closer together, and both the paper web 14 and chains 26 hang in depending loops or festoons from the sticks 27. The specific spacing or packing of the sticks in portion B will depend upon the number of sticks being moved by the dead rail chains 37.

As the chains 37 move to the right, Fig. 1, the sticks 27, the depending chain loops 43, and the paper loops or festoons 15 move as a unit therewith to the right end of the moving dead rail 36. The chains 26 and attached sticks 27 then move onto the stationary dead rail, generally indicated by the numeral 48, Fig. 1. This stationarydead rail constitutes a conveying section and comprises generally, merely a flat support along which the main conveyor chains 26 may slide or move. As an example of one form of such stationary dead rail, the construction illustrated in Fig. 8 may be used. This structure comprises a fiat support 49, the top surface of which is provided with a channel in which one of the chains 26 rides and is guided. Of course, a similar structure is provided on the opposite side of the machine for the other chain 26.

In order to move the chains 26 and the attached sticks '27 over the stationary dead rail 48, a drive sprocket 51 the sprocket 51 will be transmitted back along the stationary dead rail 48 and onto moving dead rail 36, and will progressively and gradually move the sticks 27, on the right end of the rail 36, further apart to open the festoons 15, as shown in Fig. 1. Thus, the right end of the moving rail 36, portion C, may be designated as the :loop or festoon opening portion.

As the festoons are gradually opened, the spacing of the sticks 27 also increases and the chains 26 straighten out until the end of the moving dead rail 36 is reached, at which time the chains 26 have been completely straightened and the sticks 27 are spaced their original distance. The open or extended chains and sticks are merely conveyed over the stationary dead rail 48 which merely constitutes a conveying and supporting portion. The point on the moving dead rail 36 at which the festoons begin to open will depend upon the number of sticks being supported on and moved by the moving dead rail 36.

As each of the sticks 27 reaches the right end of the stationary rail 43, see Fig. 2, the paper web is lifted off the stick 27 at the right end of the rail 48 and is passed upward over the idler roller 54 then over a group of arch rolls 55, and is finally wound up on the windup roller 56 driven by a motor 57, to be later more fully described. As the archrolls 55 and the windup device form nopart of the invention, they are not shown in detail or described. As the web 14 is lifted ofi the stick 27 at the right end of the rail 48, the Web is said to be delooped so that the right end of the stationary dead rail 48 maybe designated as the delooper portion E.

After the paper web is delooped, the chains 26, still in their extended condition, with the sticks 27 are moved downward by gravity along path 58 to a lower moving dead rail 59 which is the same construction as the upper moving dead rail 36, so need not be further described. This lower moving dead rail 59 is designated as portion F. Here again, this moving lower dead rail is moved at a slower speed than the movement of chains 26 through portion A, so that the sticks 27 are again bunched together on the lower moving dead rail 59 and the sections of the chains 26 between the bunched sticks 27 hang down from the sticks in folded depending loops 60. The chains 37 of the lower moving dead rail 59 are looped over horizontally spaced sprockets 61, the left one of which, Fig. l, is driven to move the chains 37 of the dead rail 59. The left sprocket 61 may be driven by a separate driving means; but, in the present instance, it is driven by means of a chain drive 62 which connects the left sprocket 61, see Fig. l, with the left end of a shaft 64, the right end of which is connected by a chain drive 66 to motor 53. Thus, the motor 53 drives the right sprocket 51 to deloop the paper from the conveyor sticks 27, and also drives the chain 37 at the lower moving dead rail 59.

The bunched sticks 27 and the folded chains 26 are moved to the left along the lower moving dead rail 59 by the moving chains thereof, similar to chains 37 of the upper moving dead rails 36, see Fig. 9. As the folded chains 26 and their attached sticks 27 reach the left end of the bottom moving dead rail 59, the chains 26 are again opened up or extended to their full length and are moved along a lower guide or stationary dead rail, generally indicated by the numeral 67. As the construction of this lower stationary dead rail is the same as that of the upper stationary dead rail 48, shown in Fig. 8, and above described, further description is not deemed necessary. The chains 26 and the sticks 27 are pulled all the way from the left sprocket 61 to the upper sprocket 33 of the loop forming portion A.

Both the looper and delooper drive motors 34 and 53, respectively, for the main conveyor chains 26 are equipped with both overrunning and overload type clutches, not shown. The overrun clutch on the delooper chain motor 53 allows the delooper chain to pull the conveyor chains 26 all the way from the lower moving dead rail 59 in such cases as may occur when the storage and the upper moving dead rail are entirely depleted. The looper overrunning clutch operates in a similar manner allowing the looper drive motor 34 to pull the chains 26 and sticks 27 from the upper storage rail and upper moving dead rail should the storage on the lower moving dead rail 59 become entirely depleted. The overloading clutches oper-ate entirely as protection for the mechanical equipment should sticks 27 or conveyor chains 26 become damaged at any point. These overload clutches disengage at a predetermined torque and can be readily reset once the overload condition is corrected. As these overload and overrunning clutches form no part of the invention and may be of any suitable design, they are not shown or described.

When insufiicient vertical space is not available, as shown in Fig. l, the lower stationary dead rail 67 is inclined downward at a rather steep angle from the left end of the lower moving dead rail 59 to the lower section of portion A to insure freedom of movement of chains 26 and sticks 27 along the dead rail 67. Due to this steep incline of the dead rail 67, the chains 26 and sticks 27 may tend to slide downward to the left, as viewed in Fig. 1. In order to eliminate such sliding and possible jamming on the lower rail 67, a brake shoe 68 is applied to the ends 31 of the sticks 27 to hold the latter frictionally against a fixed support 69 positioned under sticks 27, as shown in Fig. 8. The brake shoe 68 is carried by a stem 70 connected to a piston 71 positioned in an air cylinder 72. This brake shoe prevents excessive feeding of the chains 26 and sticks 27 downward along the lower stationary dead rail 67. However, if sufiicient vertical space is available, the slope of the dead rail 67 may be fiattened out, in which case the brake shoe arrangement may be dispensed with.

While the speed of the delooper drive is basically synchronized to the arch rolls 55, the present invention preferably imposes what may be termed a trimming control to compensate for slight variations in the length of the individual festoons between the hang-up sticks 27 as the festoons approach delooping portion E.

Referring now to Fig. 3, which shows this trimming control and also the delooping motor 53 and the windup motor 57, the delooping motor has been moved from its original operative position shown in Fig. 2 merely for illustrative purposes to show its electrical relation 'with the windup motor 57. The armatures 76 and 77 with the motors 53 and 57, respectively, may be connected to a suitable source of supply through leads 78 and 79. However, it is preferred to connect leads 78 and 79 to a winder generator 80 as such an arrangement affords a wider speed range than direct connection to a 110-volt or similar electrical source. Also, this arrangement will enable the speed of the two motors 53 and 57 to go up and down together, the advantages of which are deemed apparent. The field winding 81 of the winding motor 57 is connected to leads 82 and 83 which, in turn, are connected to a suitable source of l25-volts, not shown; The field winding 84 of the delooper motor 53 has one side connected to lead 83, while the other side of the winding 84 is connected through a lead 85 to a light sensitive element, such as a photoelectric cell 87, which is connected through a lead 88 back to lead 82. Thus, the photoelectric cell 87 is connected in series with the field winding 84. A pair of light beams 89 from sources 90 are directed towards the cell 87, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 3. While a single beam 89 may be used, the double beam arrangement affords a wider beam of light and 1 provides a more satisfactory arrangement. The beams 89 are positioned just below the festoons 15 and just ahead of the delooper portion E, as shown in Fig. 3. With this arrangement, if the windup motor 57 is winding up the web too fast, at least the last few festoons 15 will be shortened to expose the cell 87 to the light beams to energize the cell. Such energizing will adjust the winding 84, of the delooper motor 53 to increase the speed of the latter to pull the chains 26 more rapidly towards the delooper portion. Such increase in chain speed will supply the web at a faster rate and will return the last festoons to their normal length. On the other hand, should the winding motor 57 use up the web slower than it is being supplied by the delooper motor, the last festoons will increase in length and cut off the beams 89.to the cell 37 and deenergize the winding 84 to slow down the speed of the delooper motor 34. This will allow the Web to slip ahead on the sticks 27 since the sticks are not being fed to the delooper portion E as fast as the paper is removed. This will continue until the equilibrium has been restored between the rate of feed out and take off from delooper portion E. Thus, this trimming control serves to regulate the speed of the delooper motor 53 relative to the speed of the windup.

The present invention thus provides a high speed festoon storage device in which a single and endless chain conveyor 26 with attached sticks 27 is moved continuously through the various portions of the device. Also, the conveyor and sticks are moved at different speeds at dififerent portions of the device to insure adequate storage of both paper web and festoon forming and supporting sticks. The device of the present invention is designed to minimize the following basic disadvantages of the prior structure illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 and above described:

(I) Elimination of hazards incurred when transferring the loose sticks from one conveyor to another at high speeds. This procedure necessitates accurate mechanical adjustment of the frictionalsurfaces and may result in accidents and mechanical failures due to the loose sticks being caught between the guides and thus jamming the conveyor chains, or else sliding faster on one chain than on the other, and thereby taking an oblique position from which the stick may fall to the floor with resulting safety hazard to the operator and/ or damage to the product.

(2 Travelling of the sticks in an oblique angle also tends to shift the paper laterally against the flange guide at the delooping section and thus tends to cause edge tear and abrasion of the paper web.

3) An additional disadvantage of the old or prior device is the large number of conveyor and transfer chains required with accompanying complexity and high maintenance.

The device of the present invention, on the other hand, increases the efiectiveness of the storage capacity of light weight papers since the full storage capacity can be utilized, while as in prior structures the weight of paper was insufiicient to pull the sticks along the rail when operating at the most distant point from the delooper. This disadvantage of the prior device tended to reduce the portion of the dead rail which could be utilized for storage thereby reducing the eifective capacity of the device with light weight paper. The device of the present invention also permits the incorporation of a mechanism which will indicate to the operator the exact footage of paper in storage on the moving dead rail. As such mechanism forms no part of the present invention, it is not illustrated, but may consist of Selsyn transmitters connected to the looper or delooper chain drives. These transmitters are, in turn, connected through a differential which will indicate the difference between the number of sticks supplied to the looper and the number of sticks taken off by the delooper.

The present invention secures the above advantages by providing a single endless conveyor which passes successively through the various portions of the machine, securing the looper or festoon forming sticks directly to the single endless conveyor for movement as a unit therewith, and finally by moving the sticks and chains at different speeds through different portions of the device.

While one embodiment of the invention has been dis closed, it is to be understood that the inventive idea may be carried out in a number of ways. This application is, therefore, not to be limited to the precise details described but is intended to cover all variations and modifications thereof falling within the scope of the appended claims.

What we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A high speed festoon storing device in which a web is fed continuously to one end of the device and is wound up at the other end of the device, said device having a festoon forming, a festoon storing and a festoon opening portion and comprising, in combination, a single endless movable conveyor means extending through all of said portions, a plurality of festoon forming and supporting sticks connected at equally spaced intervals along said conveyor, means for moving said conveyor at one speed in said forming portions to bring said spaced sticks into engagement with the web to form successive web festoons of a definite length and spaced a definite distance apart, means in said storing portion for retarding the advance of said conveyor and sticks to cause the latter to move closer to each other and to be spaced a distance less than that in said forming portion to reduce the spacing of the festoons in said'storing portions below said definite distances, means for increasing the rate of movement of said conveyor in said opening portion to said one speed to open said festoons, and means controlled by the festoon lengths in said opening portion for varying the rate of discharge of said web from said opening portions.

2. A high speed festoon storing device in which a web is fed continuously to one end of the device and is wound up at the other end of the device, said device having a festoon forming, a festoon storing and a festoon opening portion and comprising, in combination, a single endless movable conveyor means extending through all of said portions, a plurality of festoon forming and supporting sticks connected at equally spaced intervals along said conveyor, means for moving said conveyor at one speed in said forming portion to bring said spaced sticks into engagement with the web to form successive web festoons of a definite length and spaced a definite distance apart, means in said storing portion for retarding the advance of said conveyor and sticks to cause the latter to move closer to each other and to be spaced a distance less than that in said forming portion to reduce the spacing of the festoons in said storing portion below said definite distance, means for moving said conveyor and sticks through said opening portion at a speed greater than that in said storage portion to open said festoons, drive means for the moving means in said opening portion, and means controiled by the length of one of the festoons in said opening portion to control said drive means to vary the rate of feed of said web from said opening portion.

3. A high speed festoon storing device in which a web is fed continuously to one end of the device and is wound up at the other end of the device, said device having a festoon forming, a festoon storing and a festoon opening portion and comprising, in combination, a single endless movable conveyor means extending through all of said portions, a plurality of festoon forming and supporting sticks connected at equally spaced intervals along said conveyor, means for moving said conveyor at one speed in said forming portion to bring said spaced sticks into engagement with the web to form successive Web festoons of a definite length and spaced a definite distance apart, means in said storing portion for retarding the advance of said conveyor and sticks to cause the latter to move closer to each other and to be spaced a distance less than that in said forming portions to reduce the spacing of the festoons in said storing portions below said definite distance, means for moving said conveyor and sticks through said opening portion at a speed greater than that in said storage portion to open said festoons, drive means including an electric motor for operating the drive for said conveyor in said opening portion, and means controlled by the length of at least one of the festoons in said opening portion for controlling a circuit to said motor to adjust the speed of said drive means to control the rate of withdrawal of said Web from said opening portion.

4. A high speed festoon storing device in which a web is fed continuously to one end of the device and is wound up at the other end of the device, said device having a festoon forming, a festoon storing and a festoon opening portion and comprising, in combination, a single endless movable conveyor means extending through all of said portions, a plurality of festoon forming and supporting sticks connected at equally spaced intervals along said conveyor, means for moving said conveyor at one speed in said forming portion to bring said spaced sticks successively into engagement with the web to form successive web festoons of a definite length and spaced a definite distance apart, means in said storing portion for retarding the advance of said conveyor and sticks to cause the latter to move closer to each other and to be spaced a distance less than that in said forming portions to reduce the spacing of the festoons in said storing portions below said definite distance, means for moving said conveyor and sticks through said opening portion at a speed greater than that in said storage portion to open said festoons, drive means including an electric motor for operating the drive for said conveyor in said opening portion, a field winding in the circuit of said motor, and means controlled by the length of a festoon in said opening portion for varying the field winding to adjust the speed of said motor to vary said last drive means to coordinate the rate of discharge of the web from said opening portion to the windup of the web.

5. A high speed festoon storing device in which a web is fed continuously to one end of the device and is wound up at the other end of the device, said device having a festoon forming, a festoon storing and a festoon opening portion and comprising, in combination, a single endless movable conveyor means extending through all of said portions, a plurality of fcstoon forming and supporting sticks connected at equally spaced intervals along said conveyor, means for moving said conveyor at one speed along an inclined path in said forming portions to bring said spaced sticks into engagement with the web to form succesisve web festoons of a definite length and spaced 2. definite distance apart, means in said storing portion for retarding the advance of said conveyor and sticks to cause the latter to move closer to each other and to be spaced a distance less than that in said forming portions to reduce the spacing of the festoons in said storing portions below said definite distance, means for moving said conveyor and sticks through said opening portion at a speed greater than that in said storage portion to open said portions, drive means including an electric motor for operating the drive for said conveyor in said opening portion, a field Winding in the circuit of said motor, a photoelectric cell, means for directing a light beam to said cell, said light beam being positioned adjacent and in the path of the last festoon in said opening portion so that the length of said last festoon will control the amount of light reaching said cell to adjust said winding to vary the motor speed and the speed of the drive means in said opening portion to coordinate the rate of discharge of the web from said opening portion to the rate of windup of the Web.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

